Chapter 6 point 5
by DiabloCat
Summary: The chapter between chapters 6 and 7 in Tomorrow When the War Began. Origninally done as a school assignment, now open for your viewing pleasure.


**Chapter 6 ½ **

"A war," Kevin muttered. "Here. A war!"

He'd been muttering the same thing for the past ten minutes, and it was starting to get on my nerves. But I knew how he felt. For so many years I had seen news of wars and such on the TV, and had thought, 'Oh, that's too bad', but I had never really grasped what it was like. It seemed I was to find out.

I tried to imagine scenes from war movies happening here, in Wirrawee, but my imagination couldn't cope. It was just too hard to imagine Australia - land of koalas and kangaroos - turned into a battlefield.

A dry sob caught my attention. Fi was sitting in a corner, rocking backwards and forwards slightly, crying. I moved over next to her.

"Hey Fi," I said carefully. I wasn't sure how she'd react. Just a moment ago she'd been yelling.

"Oh Ellie," she choked. "I can't believe it. What will we do?"

"I dunno Fi," I admitted. "But we'll think of something. We'll be okay."

Homer flopped down next to us. "Ellie's right. We'll think of something. Giving up is not an option. If we give up, we've got no hope. But if we think carefully, we'll be alright. "

I winked at him. His firm comforting tone made even _me_ feel better.

"See," I said, trying to sound just as cheerful. "Even Greek boy here knows we'll be fine." He swung a punch at me, but I ducked. Fi gave a weak smile.

I looked around to see how the others were faring. Everyone was coping in their own way. Kevin was still muttering, trying to convince himself it was not just a bad dream. Corrie and Robyn were talking quietly together, comforting each other. Lee was staring blankly out a window. I had no idea what was going though his head.

Homer bit his lip thoughtfully. "If there really is a war going on, we're going to need to be bloody careful. I think we need to work out some details until we go anywhere."

Was this the Homer I'd known for most of my life? He was talking responsibly!

"Good point," I said. Then I raised my voice. "Hey, guys! Come here!"

Everyone drifted over, except Lee, who just turned to look at us, but didn't move.

Homer started. "I know all this is really scary and different, but we can't break down. We've all had a few moments to sit and cope, to get our thoughts together, but now we need to get serious. Lee believes there is a war." He nodded at Lee who inclined his head in return. "And frankly, I agree with him. We've tried to think of other possibilities – none fit as well as this. So, if we're in a war zone, we need to act accordingly. For one thing, we need to work out what we're going to do _exactly_. Get our priorities straight."

"I think our first priority should be to check the rest of the houses," said Robyn. "I know, chances are they're empty, but we should check, just in case. What if other people managed to escape? We can't be the only ones."

"What if our parents were there, hiding, and we didn't check? I'd never forgive myself," said Corrie.

"Okay," said Homer. "Priority one: check houses. Which house is closest?"

"Mine," said Kevin. "Then Corrie's, then Robyn's."

"Fi and Lee live in the town," I mused. "That's a fair way away."

"We'll discuss what to do about that when we're at Robyn's," Homer said.

"So what's our second priority?" asked Corrie.

"The Showground," Lee said unexpectedly. "They would have everyone there. We should check it out."

"But it'll be guarded," protested Kevin.

"Duh," said Lee, rolling his eyes. "But we should still -"

Suddenly he froze. Just stopped. Slowly he turned and looked out the window. Then he dropped to the floor.

"Lee, what's -" I started to say.

"Shut up!" he hissed. "Get down! Everyone get down!"

Still confused and uncomprehending I obeyed, motivated by the desperation in his voice. Everyone else did too.

Homer shuffled over next to Lee. "What is it?" he whispered.

Lee looked grim. "There are people out there."

"People!" Fi started to stand up. Robyn grabbed her and forced her down again.

"Hey! What are you doing? They could be friends!"

"No," said Lee. "I doubt our friends would be walking around carrying rifles."

My blood ran cold. We were only kids. We couldn't deal with armed soldiers! I had been brought up around guns, they were important on a farm. But never had I been attacked with one.

"How many were there?" That was Homer, already thinking ahead.

"Um, about eight I think. Too many, especially if they're armed."

We were all silent. No one had any idea of what to do. Except maybe Homer.

"I say we wait quietly. Chances are they're just patrolling around. If we stay quiet and give them no reason to be suspicious, they'll just pass us by."

The silence was awful. It sounded louder than any noise. I was sure the soldiers would hear the unnatural silence and come and investigate. Maybe I should coo like a bird or chirp like a cricket to fill it in. I couldn't suppress a giggle at the thought and received a dig in the ribs for it.

It was because we were so quiet that we heard it. The creak of footsteps on Homer's verandah. Staying quiet hadn't done anything. They were coming in.

I heard Homer swear quietly. We didn't have much time.

"We need to get out!" I hissed in panic.

"The back door," Homer whispered in return.

As though all one body, we turned and slithered for the back door. Fi was whimpering and Robyn was murmuring what sounded like the entire Bible in one breath. The footsteps were getting louder. It was so hard to resist the temptation to get up and run. But they'd definitely see us then, and probably shoot us in the back.

I felt a surge of hatred for these invaders. This was Homer's place, not theirs', yet they had come. They didn't care for privacy, or territorial rights. They just went where they wanted to go.

We reached the kitchen just as they opened the front door. Homer swore again.

Voices sounded out, but I had no idea what they were saying. It was some language I'd never heard before.

We were all breathing heavily. The air itself was thick with tension and fear. We kept crawling. I hoped desperately the soldiers wouldn't hear the shuffling.

There were some more voices, clanking and a burst of laughter.

Finally we were at the back door. Homer reached up slowly, carefully, and turned the knob. It swung open with a slight creak. We all froze, but the soldiers hadn't heard. Quickly, quietly, we filed out.

Once outside, then temptation to run became too much. We dashed to a clump of trees, running close to the ground like hunted foxes.

I don't know exactly how long we hid in the bushes. It seemed like forever, though it was probably only half an hour or so.

At last the soldiers emerged. They were carrying a few items that they had scrounged from Homer's house. I heard him let out a hiss of air in anger, but there was nothing we could do.

We waited for another ten minutes after the soldiers had disappeared from sight before going back to his house.

I collapsed on the floor with a relived sigh, rather surprised at the fact we were still alive. Everyone followed me. We were all limp with shock, and amazement that we had survived.

"Well," said Homer. "I think we've just learned a valuable lesson."

He sounded so much like Mr Kileney, the HPE teacher at school that I just had to laugh. Then everyone was laughing. For the second time in under an hour we were in spasms of hysterical laughter.

Eventually we calmed down. Homer got serious again.

"Actually I'm serious. Lesson one: we need sentries. If Lee hadn't been watching, we would be dead or captured. Lesson two: the soldiers are out. We can't get sloppy. Now, I know we're desperate to check out the rest of the houses, but if there are patrols – well, we should wait until dark."

No one argued. It was common sense. So we sat back, and waited.


End file.
